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My M1530 doesn't "see" my Seagate FreeAgent Go 1TB external HDD
The subject line says it all....I've had the problem intermittently for the year or so I've had the Seagate attached. Now, it's a chronic issue....Not sure how pertinent it is, but I'm running Vista.
Any ideas or thoughts about what I need to do to resolve the issue will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
landmark54
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August 30th, 2012 08:00
BrianTG - Thanks for the info. As you recommended, I did check it in another computer (my wife's laptop is the same as mine, a Dell M1530) and it did not show up there, either. Sigh....looks like I'll be calling Gillware.
osprey4
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August 27th, 2012 05:00
Hi Landmark54,
A frequent problem with external drives is a drive letter conflict. The way to diagnose this is to check disk management for your external drive. If you see it but there is no drive letter assigned, simply re-assign the drive letter to something higher in the alphabet.
briantg
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August 27th, 2012 08:00
Is the drive detecting at all at this point? Does it detect on other systems?
landmark54
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August 28th, 2012 09:00
No, it's not showing up at all. I have another external drive (a smaller Seagate FreeAgent Go 320 MB) which I plugged in. It shows up, and works, in all the USB ports.
landmark54
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August 28th, 2012 10:00
Osprey4, I went to disk management and the 1TB external drive doesn't show up. I plugged in my other external drive (320 MB) which did show up. So, I'm thinking it's the drive itself, not the connection to my laptop. Any thoughts, suggestions? Thanks!
briantg
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August 28th, 2012 11:00
The first thing to do is check it on another computer to rule it out. 95% chance it won't be detecting there either, but it is something to check.
If the drive is spinning and sounds normal, there's a 90% chance the external enclosure is fine (when they are smoked they typically won't even spin the drive). Having said that, there's about a 10% chance the enclosure is bad in which case you could remove the drive from it (voiding your warranty) and plug it in directly to a SATA port (or another enclosure you buy) and see if it detects that way. Again if the drive is spinning right now this is unlikely to work but it's relatively painless to try.
Assuming it is spinning and sounds normal but never detects in any computers BIOS, you probably have the dreaded Seagate 7200.11 series drive with a nasty problem that would require in lab services to recover. If you didn't have the data backed up and it's valuable to you, Dell recommends you call Gillware. Be sure to mention Dell referred you so you get the appropriate discounts.
osprey4
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August 28th, 2012 16:00
Yes, might be the drive. Does it work in a different PC?
landmark54
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August 30th, 2012 08:00
Osprey4 - Thanks for the info. I plugged the external drive into my wife's laptop, like mine, it's a Dell M1530, and it didn't recognize the drive, either. Btw, I liked the items in your tool box. Will be using some of them soon. Thanks!
osprey4
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August 30th, 2012 10:00
Sorry to hear about your drive.
Glad to know my links are helpful.